The St. Louis Cardinals entered Thursday nights game versus the Atlanta Braves hoping to win the series. By the time it was done, the hope was to keep Dustin May from leaving in an ambulance. They would ultimately succeed, though, as their bats would erupt for one of the Cardinals best rallies of the season late in the game to make manager Oli Marmol’s birthday extra special.
The good news is the St. Louis Cardinals bats woke up and started Thursday night’s game with a bang early. In the top of the 1st inning, JJ Wetherholt led off with a single followed by Iván Herrera (you guessed it) being hit by yet another pitch. Two batters later, Jordan Walker launched an 83 mph splitter 396 feet over the left field wall for a 3-run blast giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead with many family and friends in the stands at Truist Park watching.
Whatever joy the St. Louis Cardinals and the fanbase felt after the top of the 1st inning would be short-lived. The bottom of the 1st inning was nothing short of disastrous for the Cardinals on so many levels. The trouble started when Dustin May gave up a leadoff single to Drake Baldwin followed by back-to-back walks to Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson. May was able to get Michael Harris II to strike out looking, but then the wheels would come off. Mauricio Dubon singled which scored Baldwin reducing the Cardinals lead to 3-1. Dominic Smith then rifled a line drive off of Dustin May’s ankle as the ball ricocheted off of him into right field. By the time JJ Wetherholt tracked it down, 3 runs had scored as the Braves took the lead 4-3. Dustin May was down on his knees on the field for several minutes. After being examined by the trainer, manager Oli Marmol decided to let May continue. Austin Riley followed that decision up with an infield single to third that Blaze Jordan was unable to handle as Smith advanced to third. He scored on the next play when Mike Yastremski hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field giving Atlanta a 5-3 lead. After Jarvis singled to right, Dustin May limped off of the field and Justin Bruihl came into the game to finish out the depressing 1st inning. The official word after being examined in the clubhouse is that Dustin May suffered a right ankle contusion.
Justin Bruihl did a solid job of keeping St. Louis in the game as he finished the 1st inning that Dustin May couldn’t and continued into the bottom of the 4th inning before running out of gas after throwing 40 pitches. He surrendered the game to Ryan Fernandez who entered with runners on 1st and 2nd with just 1 out. He fortunately was able to get out of the inning without allowing Atlanta to increase their lead. He would carry St. Louis through the 5th inning while Gordon Graceffo would take care of the bottom of the 6th. The St. Louis bullpen’s unplanned start would hold the Braves scoreless into the 7th which would be vital.
Every potential Cardinals rally through the middle innings could be summed up with a single and then a double play to kill the momentum. But, that narrative changed in the top of the 7th inning when the Cardinals bullpen keeping the Braves close would pay off big time. The phrase “all you need is a bloop and a blast” would prove true again. Masyn Winn would provide the bloop single (he had 3 hits in the game) followed by Nathan Church unloading the blast – a two-run homer off an 86 mph slider over the right field wall tying the game at 5-5.
The Cardinals did not take their foot off the gas after Church tied the game. Jordan Walker drew a walk and then pinch-hitter Jose Fermin singled. JJ Wetherholt went up to the plate with directions to bunt both runners over. After two very insufficient bunt attempts, JJ swung away and it’s a good thing he did as he slapped a single into short right-center scoring Walker and giving St. Louis a 6-5 lead.
Iván Herrera kept the train rolling with a single of his own driving in Fermin upping the Cardinals lead to 7-5 with Wetherholt smartly going first to third. After Alec Burleson grounded into a fielder’s choice where JJ Wetherholt made a smart play on the base paths forcing the Braves into a rundown where they would eventually only get one out leaving runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out. Jordan Walker would strike fear into the Braves infield who were forced to play in by crushing a 95 mph sinker into left field giving St. Louis an 8-5 lead and they still weren’t done.
Lars Nootbaar ripped a double into right field scoring Alec Burleson adding yet another tally for St. Louis giving the Cardinals an amazing 9-5 lead. But wait, there’s more. Masyn Winn grounded out to first, but the throw by Baldwin which beat Jordan Walker to home, but he pulled off the slide of the year as he pulled back his left arm and did a swim move with his right to duck around the tag and score the Cardinals 10th run of the game. Incredible.
After the Cardinals more than batted around and the Braves went through 3 relief pitchers, it was 10-5 Cardinals. Hello momentum. It’s nice to see you in our corner again. After that inspiring offensive eruption, there were still 3 innings to survive and Oli Marmol chose JoJo Romero to handle the bottom of the 7th inning. He kept the Braves in check. JoJo would start, but not finish the 8th inning as George Soriano carried the baton for the rest of the bottom of the 8th inning. He inherited a runner from JoJo and walked the first batter he faced, but was able to get Smith to fly out for the first out on a brave 3-2 changeup. He then got Austin Riley to ground out to third for what could have been a double play, but Fermin’s throw to first was awful and pulled Burleson off the bag. It wouldn’t matter, though, as Mike Yastremski grounded out to Masyn Winn for the final out of the Brave’s 8th.
Alec Burleson would add an exclamation point to the Cardinals offensive volcano Thursday night as he launched one of the highest home runs I’ve seen in a long time as it’s horizontal distance was 395 feet and the vertical distance had to be similar. That gave the Cardinals their final 11-5 lead they would end the game with.
Matt Svanson was the Cardinals 9th inning answer to close out the Atlanta Braves to make the series win official. He did the job fine, thank you very much. If the St. Louis Cardinals season becomes one that eventually results in a playoff appearance, remember this game. The Cardinals could easily have rolled over after Dustin May’s early exit. The bullpen locking down the Braves for 8 innings and the Cardinals bats waking up could be a turnaround moment. We can only hope.
The St. Louis Cardinals will travel to Wrigley Field for an All-American 4th of July weekend as they’ll challenge their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs. Andre Pallante will try to give the Cardinals another strong start. He’ll be facing LHP David Peterson. First pitch is scheduled for 3:15pm central time and the game TV broadcast will be handled by Cardinals.tv. A heads up that Saturday’s game will be on Fox while the Sunday Cards/Cubs game will be on Peacock.
